Seven-hour standoff at Raleigh apartments ends

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Raleigh, N.C. — Raleigh police took a 48-year-old man into custody after a seven-hour standoff that forced an evacuation of the Westgrove Tower Apartments off Blue Ridge Road Sunday.

Police said that a resident called 911 around 4 p.m. concerned that a friend was suicidal and had a weapon. When officers arrived, the man barricaded himself inside an apartment and did not respond to police attempts to contact him.

Police cars, EMT crews, armored trucks and officers in full tactical gear surrounded the building. Officers evacuated some apartments and kept about two dozen other residents who weren't home when the standoff started from returning.

"(Officers) were running with the armor shields and everything like that to protect them. Then they told us we had to leave the property," said resident Kristy Alston, who was waiting in a K-Mart parking lot a few blocks away from Westgrove Tower.

monkeyboyApr 30, 2012

"All the other residents should raise holy cane until Mr crybaby with his idol threats and no nerve is evicted." - haleibc

yeah, i make 'idol' threats too. like to never watch that stupid tv show.

seriously, until you learn how to spell, please stop posting...

jimthorne73Apr 30, 2012

7 hours to till they talked with the guy?

dajones115bApr 30, 2012

cuffusionI think it's pretty clear that the safety and security of multiple people always trumps that of an individual. If the police had just left without doing anything and this individual decided to leave his apartment and start taking out other innocent people then they would be directly responsible. They can only go on the information provided to them and that one person's refusal to even speak to them created the need to do what they did.

cuffusionApr 30, 2012

Here is the concern.. A person has a 4th Amendment right against unreasonable intrusion (home is his castle). so this individual was in their own home, had not threatened directly to injure themselves or another person (all governmental action was a result of third hand information)..

Should he have responded to the police at the door. yes.. but he is under no legal requirement to do so.. where does the government overstep its authority.. The same people that say that the police should enter here are proponents for the rights of criminals... does the right to safety and security of the community trump that of the individual?? these questions are intrinsically tied.. our society has clearly not made a definitive choice.. wish we would... one way or the other.

ncno12Apr 30, 2012

Guess you'd rather he killed someone in the complex and then killed himself. Thus, justifying everyone being held from returning to their apartment while saving the taxpayers from having to waste money on his treatment. Nice. This is what's wrong with the world. Typical every man for himself and Suck it up, everyone has problems attitude. Have a great day!

haleibcApr 30, 2012

So all these people were forced to leave their home or not return to the comfort of their own homes for hours because some broken hearted crybaby wanted some attention. And after all the inconvenience to others and all the expense of police, ems personnel, all the punishment he gets is to talk to the doctor. That's bull. All the other residents should raise holy cane until Mr crybaby with his idol threats and no nerve is evicted.